Mercedes believes an overheating clutch was to blame for Lewis Hamilton’s poor start in the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Hamilton dropped from pole position to fourth place by Turn 1 after being jumped by both Ferraris as well as team-mate Nico Rosberg. With Felipe Massa’s grid error leading to an extra formation lap, Mercedes executive director (technical) Paddy Lowe says the unusual start procedure had an impact on Hamilton’s start.
“It began with two rather mediocre race starts,” Lowe said. “With Lewis, we suspect it was an overheating clutch after the second formation lap. And for Nico, it looked like there was just very little grip from his grid position. We apologise to both drivers for not being able to give them the platform for the start they needed.
“That put both drivers behind the Ferraris and Lewis then lost further position attempting to pass Nico later on the first lap. So, at that point it was already looking like a difficult afternoon with one driver in third and the other back in tenth.”
However, Lowe admits Ferrari was too quick in Hungary for Mercedes to win the race without outside help.
“We persevered with our race strategy to attempt to get both cars onto the podium and perhaps even the top step - but it soon became clear that Ferrari were very quick and we didn't have enough of a pace advantage to make that happen. There were then a number of events including minor collisions and penalties which eventually consigned us to sixth and eighth. A bad day without doubt - but as they say, you can't win them all and it's still points on the board.”
Click here for F1i's driver ratings following the Hungarian Grand Prix
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